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Brazilians protest, strike over pension changes

Gas mask wearing demonstrators take cover as they face off with police as they protest government proposed changes to work rules and pensions in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Wednesday, March 15, 2017. (AP / Leo Correa)

The Associated Press
Published Wednesday, March 15, 2017 11:35PM EDT

SAO PAULO - A transport strike snarled traffic in Brazil's biggest city and demonstrators broke into the Finance Ministry in the capital Wednesday as people protested across the country against proposed changes to work rules and pensions.

One of the biggest protests was in Sao Paulo, where local media cited organizers as saying tens of thousands of demonstrated on a central thoroughfare. Military police said they did not have an estimate for the size of the protest. Other protests happened in cities across Brazil. At a protest in Rio de Janeiro, police fired tear gas to control a rowdy crowd.

More than 1,500 people in Brasilia broke into the Finance Ministry overnight and occupied it for several hours, said military police and the Movement of Rural Workers Without Land, an activist group whose flag flew from one of the ministry's widows.

Traffic crawled through Sao Paulo due to a partial transport strike that began overnight. Fewer than half of the city's buses ran during the morning commute, the bus authority reported, though it said most buses were back on the streets later in the day. Only two of six subway lines operated normally, while three ran partial service.

Later in the day, protesters that included teachers, union members and leftist activists took to the streets of Sao Paulo to protest changes proposed by President Michel Temer for labour rules and the social security pension system.

Critics say his labour plan would reduce job security for Brazilian workers and his pension proposal would force many people to work longer to qualify for pensions and reduce retirement benefits for many.

Temer's government says changes in the state-run social security system are needed to avoid its financial collapse, though many unions dispute that the pension system is in trouble.

The labour changes would give companies more flexibility in hiring, including allowing longer temporary contracts, more part-time work and longer work days. The government says they are aimed at helping pull Brazil out of a deep two-year-old recession that has seen unemployment rise to 12.6 per cent.

In a speech Wednesday, Temer said his proposed overhaul would keep Brazil from having to make the kinds of radical changes that European countries like Portugal and Greece were forced to make to revive their economies.

Brazilians "little by little will understand that it's necessary to support this road to put the country back on the rails," he said.

Pamela Lopes, a commuter in Sao Paulo disagreed, saying she wants to see more resistance to the changes even if it meant a tough commute.

"Life is difficult, and the government is deceiving us," said Lopes, a 23-year-old who works in human resources. "Everyone should be on strike."

Late Wednesday, Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva, who was president in 2003-2010 and has signalled that he will in next year's election, spoke to thousands of his supporters in Sao Paulo urging opposition to Temer.

"I would like to congratulate you because in taking to the streets you are showing those who believe that people are happy, that people are accepting (the situation), are wrong," Silva told the crowd.